The inspiration behind this dessert
As the name of the dessert suggests, the inspiration behind this dessert came from the viral Dubai Chocolate!
The original Dubai Chocolate bar features a filling that is irresistible – crunchy kataifi pastry covered in creamy pistachio paste and tahini.
So I thought, what if I combined Dubai Chocolate with a classic Italian dessert, tiramisu?
Instead of the ladyfingers, I wanted to add the crunchy pistachio kataifi filling. Instead of a regular cocoa dusting on top, I wanted to cover it with a chocolate crackle and garnish with crushed pistachio.
Check out the video below – my first time making Dubai Chocolate, but with coco puffs rather than Kataifi. The texture was definitely not as crunchy, but the pistachio paste filling was delicious.
Textures, textures, textures
The key to this Dubai Chocolate Pistachio Tiramisu is the texture.
Crunchiness from the Kataifi pastry.
Creaminess and smoothness from the pistachio paste and cream cheese.
Snap from the chocolate shell.
To have these textures, I’d recommend consuming this tiramisu within 1-2 hours of assembling.
If you leave the tiramisu to set for too long, the Kataifi pastry becomes soggy.
The second attempt
This time I used kataifi pastry and you can definitely hear the crunch!
Making your own Kataifi pastry
In this recipe, I make Kataifi pastry from scratch.
Why? Well, because my local shops stopped stocking Kataifi pastry. But that wasn’t going to stop me from enjoying some good Dubai Chocolate.
Making Kataifi pastry from scratch isn’t difficult – but it does take some patience and some practice to get right.
The first time I made it, it was a struggle to make thin strands. Luckily, after a few tries, it turned out much better!
Kataifi pastry is basically cornstarch, flour and water together, with a bit of oil and salt. The key is to drizzle a very small and thin amount onto the pan to cook.
Check out the video here:
Dubai Chocolate Pistachio Tiramisu
Ingredients
Method
- Mix all the ingredients and pour it into a ziplock bag. Then snip a small hole and pipe thin zig-zags onto a non-stick pan.
- Once they lift easily, remove. Repeat until finished.
- Chop the Kataifi pastry (from step 1), then toast it on a pan with butter until golden brown.
- Mix with pistachio paste to form a crunchy filling.
- Whip the heavy cream to soft peaks.
- In another bowl, beat cream cheese until smooth, then fold in the whipped cream.
- Melt the chocolate and coconut oil in the microwave in 30-sec increments until smooth.
- Quickly dip the ladyfingers into cold milk.
- Layer soaked ladyfingers at the base
- Add a layer of cream
- Spoon over all the pistachio kataifi filling
- Top with another layer of cream
- Pour over the melted chocolate shell
- Garnish with chopped pistachios
- Chill in the fridge for 5-6 hours before serving. Enjoy!
